Hearts players could miss up to six games due to Asian Cup involvement with Australia

The Socceroos have claimed the services of Kye Rowles and Nathaniel Atkinson

As Hearts lose two first-choice defenders to Australia's Asian Cup campaign, there is the consolation of having a well-equipped squad to cope. Centre-back Kye Rowles and full-back Nathaniel Atkinson jet out to Qatar on Monday ahead of the tournament kicking off on 12 January.

Both have been key components of a resilient back line which has helped push their club up to third in the cinch Premiership table during December. They start the New Year on international business, however, and will therefore miss Tuesday's league visit to Livingston. Depending on Australia's progress in the competition, they could be absent for up to six matches altogether.

Graham Arnold's national team play group matches against India on 13 January, Syria on 18 January and Uzbekistan on 23 January. That rules Rowles and Atkinson out of three Hearts matches for definite - Livingston before the winter break, plus the Scottish Cup fourth-round tie at Spartans on 20 January and the league fixture at home to Dundee three days later.

The Australians are firmly expected to qualify for the Asian Cup's knockout stages. Should they progress through the last-16, quarter-finals and semi-finals to reach the competition's final on 10 February, Rowles and Atkinson would miss a further three games for their club. They would be unavailable for Aberdeen's visit to Tynecastle on 27 January, plus subsequent trips to Dundee on 3 February and St Johnstone on 7 February. The pair would then be back in time for Hearts hosting Motherwell on 17 February.

"I'm very excited. It's another major tournament and just to be selected for your country is an amazing thing," said Rowles. "I wish Cammy [Devlin] was fit enough to come with me and Natty [Atkinson]. It's a shame but it's still good to go with one of your team-mates.

"It'll be bittersweet [missing Hearts games] but hopefully we can go on a long run. I have full faith in all the boys. We've got everyone pretty much coming back now and this little free time in January is a nice healthy block for the boys in the physio room to get back out. The ranks should be stocked up again."

Rowles underlined Australia's expectations for the Asian Cup. "Like any tournament, you want to go to win. I think we'll probably be up there with the countries that are expected to win. We want to go as far as we can. It would be great to lift a trophy. I've not been able to lift one in my career so far. We'll see how we go."

Hibs players Martin Boyle and Lewis Miller are also in Arnold's squad, but Rowles is not intending to travel together. "I'm not sure. I think I got stitched up with an early flight. I don't think I'll see anyone. I fly out on Monday morning straight over to the Middle East. Qatar has been a happy hunting ground for us boys over there [after the 2022 World Cup] so hopefully we can feed off that experience and make a deep run."

Rowles and Atkinson put in their final Hearts performances for a few weeks in Saturday's 2-2 draw with Ross County. The visitors led 2-0 with 20 minutes remaining until Kenneth Vargas and Lawrence Shankland hauled the home team level at Tynecastle.

"It wasn't ideal, not how we wanted it to go down but to come back from two goals down shows the character we have in the group. Overall, it was a disappointing performance," admitted Rowles. "It has been a tough schedule - everyone has the same to deal with - but it took a while for us and the second goal was the wake-up call for us that unfortunately we needed. Then we started playing with that bit of urgency that we needed at the start of the game.

"The heads could have easily dropped. The boys did well to rally round and get going. Once the first goal went in, we could feel the momentum building. Maybe in the last 10 minutes, we could have had a bit more patience and picked the right chance because I think one more goal would definitely be the decider. It was a good fightback."

Shankland continued his scoring form amid interest from a number of other clubs as the January transfer window opens. Rowles admitted he will be checking his phone to see whether the captain remains in Gorgie for him returning from Qatar. "Yeah, probably! But that's none of my business, I'll try my best to distance myself and focus on the games with Australia," he said.

"It's nice to have him, especially when he's been banging them in recently. You can't really rely on one guy to bail you out every game. I'm happy for Kenny to get his goal. He took it well and maybe if we had another chance to fall to the boys up top, we would have had a third."